Betty Crocker Vs Duncan Hines: Which Boxed Devil's Food Cake Mix Is Better?

I love a good boxed cake mix as much as the next person, but when I'm reaching for one in the store, I often hesitate. Should I buy Betty Crocker or Duncan Hines? I mean, they cost the same amount and both come from reputable baking brands, but is one tastier than the other? Is one more moist or have more crumb? Or, are the differences marginal? It's time to put this age-old debate to bed once and for all.

I picked up a box of both Duncan Hines and Betty Crocker's Devil's Food cake mixes, took them home, baked them according to the box's instructions, and conducted a side-by-side taste test. After happily trying both cakes, I compared the similarities and differences to find out which one is better based on flavor, crumb, moistness, and more. I will explain my methodology in-depth at the end of this article, but for now let's get to the tasty results my criteria revealed. Honestly, I was a bit surprised at what I discovered, and you might be, too. Keep reading to learn how Duncan Hines and Betty Crocker performed in a head-to-head comparison so you can put any hesitancy behind you and grab the best boxed cake mix possible for your preferences.

First things first, I had to start my thorough evaluation by mixing and baking the Duncan Hines and Betty Crocker Devil's Food cake mixes I snagged from the store. Regarding prep work, there was no difference between the two boxes. Both called for 1 cup of water, three eggs, and a ½ cup of oil. However, according to professional bakers, you can swap out oil and water for more moisture-rich ingredients like milk and melted butter to elevate the final results. I didn't do that because I wanted to stay true to the recipes on the box and give a more accurate comparison, but it's something to keep in mind the next time you mix up cake batter.

As the directions dictated, I poured all the ingredients, including the actual cake mix, into a large bowl and got to mixing. I used a hand mixer and both mixes came together quickly and easily — no issues or differences so far. According to the boxes' instructions, the Betty Crocker cake batter was supposed to take several minutes longer to bake; like four to nine minutes. Even so, I found that the Betty Crocker Devil's Food cake only needed one additional minute to finish up. You could chalk this up to variation from one oven to the next, which is expected, but the shorter bake time gives Duncan Hines a slight edge here. It's not much, but it's something to consider.

Alright, I know the color of a cake isn't a huge determining factor when it comes to deciding whether Betty Crocker or Duncan Hines Devil's Food mix is better. Still, it should be noted that my Duncan Hines cake was a shade or two darker than Betty Crocker's. Since the cakes are chocolate-flavored, they both had a rich brown color, just as you'd expect. However, Duncan Hines was a deeper shade.

The darker hue of the Duncan Hines cake instantly made me think it would taste more chocolatey, and there's something to be said for that. Even if it didn't turn out to be true, visual aesthetic goes a long way in catching your eye and appealing to your tastes before you even get a bite. So, when it comes to color, Duncan Hines beat out Betty Crocker by just a smidge.

True to my assumption based on color, the Duncan Hines Devil's Food cake I baked did in fact have a more potent chocolate flavor. As expected, the deeper shade of brown was an indicator of more cocoa. Don't get me wrong, the Betty Crocker cake was still chocolatey. It just trailed behind Duncan Hines when it came to how robust the flavor was. Man were they close, though. Seriously, it was pretty hard to tell the two cakes apart based solely on the level of chocolate included in the mix.

For me, the more chocolate the better. I would have actually liked even more chocolate flavor baked into every bite, so Duncan Hines makes the obvious pick here. You could always upgrade your cake mix with more cocoa and other interesting flavor enhancements to make it even better, but in the base form, Duncan Hines Devil's Food cake simply has Betty Crocker's beat regarding chocolate potency. If you are like me and love tons of chocolate, team Duncan Hines is calling your name.

In addition to Duncan Hines having a slight edge over Betty Crocker regarding chocolate, it also had a sweeter taste. Whether this comes from containing more chocolate or something else like sugar, there's no doubt it had a sweeter flavor. I'm talking about just the cake, too, not regarding frosting. Eventually, I did put some homemade frosting on top and it obviously substantially increased the sweetness in both cakes. Still, Duncan Hines' sugary cake flavor still stayed on top. If you prefer a less sweet cake, Betty Crocker might suit you better, but I was once again drawn to Duncan Hines for this category.

The difference between Betty Crocker's and Duncan Hines Devil's Food cakes' level of sweetness was minimal — and probably so much so that most people wouldn't be able to tell a noticeable difference. I, however, was doing a side-by-side comparison, so the variation was spotted. Even so, once you slather the cake with a sugary frosting, it would be incredibly tricky to say which cake was sweeter.

Texture, specifically whether the cake was crumbly or spongey, is where I first noticed a big difference between Betty Crocker and Duncan Hines Devil's Food cake mixes. For starters, the Betty Crocker cake was more prone to shedding crumbs while slicing a knife or fork through it. Is this a problem? No, but the structure was noticeably less durable. It's not like I was hacking through it with a dull knife, either. I'm not sure if flaky is the right word or not, but that's what it was.

The Duncan Hines cake on the other hand was significantly more spongy. It barely crumbled at all. When I pressed down on the top of it with a fork, it instantly bounced back when I alleviated the pressure, too. The texture was pillowy and this carried over to a pleasing mouthfeel, as well. All in all, I'd go for Duncan Hines every time if I based my decision solely on crumb versus sponge. I know some people prefer a more crumbly cake, though, so the choice is yours.

I know the word moist rubs some people the wrong way, but when it comes to cake, there's almost no better positive attribute. To put it plainly, moist cake is where it's at. Fortunately for both Betty Crocker and Duncan Hines, both cake mixes produced a decently moist cake. Could either have been even more gooey? Yes, but they weren't dry at all. All this being said, Duncan Hines managed to secure the win again by being slightly more moist (are you sick of the word yet?). The difference between the cakes was once again slight, but it was there all the same. However, if you want to make either of these boxed cake mixes even more moist, replacing the wet ingredients with melted ice cream has the potential to take them to new heights.

Sometimes, a cake's lack of moisture comes down to baker error. For example, the longer you bake your cake, the drier it becomes. You have to pay close attention and pull it out of the oven at the exact moment it is done — which is when you poke it with a toothpick and it comes out clean it's ready. Even one minute longer and the quality starts to deteriorate. With this in mind, I closely monitored cooking times and made sure to take my cakes out of the oven at the ideal moment. I didn't want a simple oversight on my part to sway results.

The final textural difference I noticed between Betty Crocker's and Duncan Hines's Devil's Food cake mixes has to do with density. Once baked to perfection, the Duncan Hines cake had a more airy structure compared to the Betty Crocker cake, which was more dense. The crumb came together in a light, lofty way that I really enjoyed with Duncan Hines. When I took my first bite, I even exclaimed out loud how great the mouthfeel was.

I'm not saying Betty Crocker's Devil's Food cake isn't fluffy, but in a direct comparison to Duncan Hines, it was noticeably denser. The cake was still excellent, it was just heavier. For some people, this may be a positive trait, but I prefer a lighter airier texture when given the choice. It gives me more of the mouthfeel I love without as much of a weighed-down feeling after gobbling up a slice, or maybe even two.

And our winner is... Duncan Hines Devil's Food cake mix! It quite literally takes the cake. If you prefer a lighter, moister, more chocolatey, sweeter devil's food cake, there's really no competition. I guess this isn't all too surprising, either, since Duncan Hines's Devil's Food is considered one of the best cake mixes to buy.

Is Betty Crocker a bad choice? Absolutely not, but it didn't quite measure up to good ol' Duncan Hines when it came to comparing the above criteria. It's not like you need to toss out any unused Betty Crocker cake mixes you have in your pantry, but I'd recommend adding more cocoa powder or swapping out some of the sweet ingredients for something richer like melted ice cream or milk to give you more of the good stuff. Heck, you could do that with Duncan Hines, too, but if you want to start with the best devil's food cake mix, the choice is clear: Duncan Hines is here for the win.

To accurately compare Duncan Hines and Betty Crocker Devil's Food cake mixes, I put in the dirty work: I bought and baked both products myself. To ensure accurate results, I made sure to follow the directions on each packaging to a T. For the pans, I opted to pour the batters into 8-inch rounds, two for each mix. Then, I baked them up, let them cool, and got straight to tasting. At first, I sampled each cake all by itself. After a few bites of each, I put some homemade chocolate pudding Cool Whip frosting all over the top of each — and continued tasting. Yum.

Once I had my fill of cake, which probably took longer than you think (I love cake), I started comparing them based on specific traits. Flavor, including the amount of chocolate and the level of sweetness, was paramount in determining my final winner. After all, we all want a devil's food cake to be sweet and super chocolatey right? I also compared the texture of each baked cake. Was it moist or dry? Crumbly or spongey? Airy or dense? Ease of baking also played a part in my comparison. After evaluating all of these characteristics, it was obvious that Duncan Hines was going to take home the gold medal. In fact, even when you compare Duncan Hines and Betty Crocker's Devil's Food cakes with other flavors in the pool of contenders, Duncan Hines still beats Betty Crocker in a ranking of the best boxed cake mixes. Whether you have the same preferences as me or not, it looks like Duncan Hines has officially earned bragging rights.